Richard Marsden, ESA Ulysses project scientist and mission manager, added, "Over almost two decades of science observations by Ulysses, we have learned a lot more than we expected about our star and the way it interacts with the space surrounding it. Solar missions have appeared in recent years, but Ulysses is still unique today. Its special point of view over the sun's poles never has been covered by any other mission." [NASA]

The press release issued by NASA on June 12, 2008 states, “Ulysses was the first mission to survey the environment in space above and below the poles of the sun in the four dimensions of space and time. It showed the sun's magnetic field is carried into the solar system in a more complicated manner than previously believed. Particles expelled by the sun from low latitudes can climb to high latitudes and vice versa, sometimes unexpectedly finding their way out to the planets. Ulysses also studied dust flowing into our solar system from deep space, and showed it was 30 times more abundant than astronomers suspected. In addition, the spacecraft detected helium atoms from deep space and confirmed the universe does not contain enough matter to eventually halt its expansion.” [NASA]

Nigel Angold, ESA Ulysses mission operations manager, stated, “When the last bits of data finally arrive, it surely will be tough to say goodbye. But any sadness I might feel will pale in comparison to the pride of working on such a magnificent mission. Although operations will be ending, scientific discoveries from Ulysses data will continue for years to come." [NASA]

Additional information about the Ulysses mission is found at “JPL: Ulysses” and “ESA: Ulysses”

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NASA  Science  Spacecraft  Sun  William Atkins